newbie questions.

[xpanta]

Hi,

I am sorry for the obscure thread title. There are some things that I need to have them cleared. I love the game but I guess I can't explore into its full potential. I am now on chapter 2 but I consider restarting because some talent decisions are not what I expected.

1. What is MP?
2. Is there a FAQ with quick tips. For example some good combat strategies.
3. I just gave a point to Jaggernaut. I can't find its usage. I still use "Ferocity level 2". Why Jaggernaut is so important that I had to be lvl18 to get it?
4. Vraes misses a lot. Way more that the other characters. Although it can take much damage. Even with a good 2H sword 16 on blades and and 13 Str he still misses 1.5 out 3 hits. I need to load him with "Accuracy" charms but that would leave him with less armor
5. What is the difference between "Melee Accuracy", "Accuracy" and "Ranged Accuracy"? I found a charm that gives me "+1 Melee Accuracy", that is why I am asking.
6. "Ferocity" gives me +48 Damage. But sometimes when I hit a monster I inflict damage +12? Why?
7. How Armor, Resistance, Dodge and Parry work exactly?
8. What is "Stealth" useful for?

Thanks for your time
and apologies for so many questions.

Chris

[fallen]

xpanta - welcome to the forum and thanks for the post. One of the developers and the artist here behind Heroes of Steel, so we can get your questions answered!

1. MP is a Move Point. This can only be spent on moving, cannot be spent like an Action Point (move or attack). Therefore, it provides heightened mobility. If you move, any MP you have will be consumed before AP.
2. Here is a Starter Guide that @rearik wrote and we posted on Steam: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=297611578
3. Juggernaut can add +SP, +MP and even +AP back to Vraes, but only if the attack is the killing blow. On a good day, with your other characters setting him up and using curses, I have seen him gain multiple AP back and be able to make multiple attacks more than he normally would in a turn. It is a unique Talent, requires focus, it may not be the best for every build.
4. You could also use other characters to load his targets with curses that reduce Parry and Dodge. Especially Parry.
5. +Accuracy indicates that it improves both types of Accuracy (Ranged and Melee). If the item is specific (+Melee Accuracy) then it only improves one or the other.
6. Damage is soaked (reduced) by Armor and enemy toughness. Check the Combat Guide for more details: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=252556760
7. Check the Combat Guide for this one.
8. Whenever you encounter an enemy group, your Stealth is rolled against their Spot. Many creatures are harder to sneak up on than others - such as Spiders. If the monster's Spot roll wins, then they get to act first. If your Stealth roll wins, you get the first turn. During this turn, your Thief or Rogue can use Surprise Talents (Silent Stalker for Tamilin) to gain extreme Critical %. We are working on some other enhancements to this system.

[Zhivago]

(Of course fallen beat me to this!  When I started typing this out there was nothing lol His answers are better than mine!) Welcome! Glad to hear you're enjoying the game. I'll do my best to answer some of your questions and I'm sure others will chime in with more details.

1. MP is a movement specific point, different from AP which can be used for both movements and actions (such as attacking, casting spells, moving, etc.) It's an important stat for your characters in order to ensure you save as many AP as possible for attacks and other non-movement actions.

2. I don't know if there is a faq per se, but the 'Tips and Techniques' section has tons of information about game basics.

3. I've never used Juggernaut, but my understanding of the skill is that it conveys certain (incredible) bonuses when its use results in an enemy's death. You have to make sure to use it when you know Vraes can inflict the killing blow with that next attack.

4. That is certainly one way to do it. You should also consider curses, like KJs Choking Ash as absolutely necessary to improve hit percentage. Make sure you're also paying attention to characters' pertinent weapon skills.

5. +accuracy items affect all accuracy, while +ranged/melee only affect those specific types of abilities.

6. Short answer: dice! Long answer: check out the wonderful 'Combat Mechanics' thread in the aforementioned 'Tips and Techniques' section.

7. See #6!

8. Getting your NM Ironman groups killed! Okay, I'm kidding that was kind of an inside joke. Stealth determines whether you attack first or the enemy attacks first. Higher stealth stats from the character that leads your group mean more battles where you have the initiative.

Hope this helped some! Cheers!

[crimsonshadow]

Oooo...Fallen... Do tell.... What kind of enhancements on this are we talking about?

[fallen]

crimsonshadow - undisclosed at this time I.e. flying stealth.

[crimsonshadow]

Awww shucks! OK... Looking forward to it!

[xpanta]

WOW! Thanks a lot for your answers.

Happy to be in HoS's community! It is a great game.

I think I will invest in Jaggernaut.

One final question:

If I spent points on Stealth for my Ranger/Thief (Tamilin) and buff her with "Silent Stalker" does she need to be guiding the party in order to increase chance of surprise against enemies?

[anrdaemon]

Regarding Jaggernaut.
I've noticed that sometimes Vraes get extra MP from it.
I.e., he kills an enemy and moves forward, it's as described, but sometimes he have one extra MP after move, sometimes not. In all cases he moves from one regular tile to another. No added cost, like moving in water.
Forgot to add, Jaggernaut 2, no Burst of Speed.

[Zhivago]

xpanta Yes, the stealth roll comes from the character leading the group.

[fallen]

@andraemon - yep. If its a killing blow, you step into the square (Juggeranut forward!) at no cost. On top of that, you get a roll based on the level of Juggernaut to gain +SP (up to 32), +MP (2 max) and +AP (2 max). I will do some work on printing the result to the screen so you can see what you get, right now I don't think its clear and doesn't do Juggernaut justice.

xpanta - yes, the Rogue / Thief needs to lead as Zhivago says.

[John Robinson]

Juggernaut: Some Boss monsters protect themselves with lower ranks, or archers take advantage while you are stuck fighting infantry.  I've just started to use Juggernaut, it's great
for cutting through the front lines to reach a higher priority target.  You can use another team member flank attack to setup the killing blow for Vraes in the direction he wants to travel in. 

[dotasc]

Thanks to the OP and the great answers in this thread. Perfect timing, as I had the exact same questions about the +accuracy items and the stealth mechanics.

I was hoping stealth rolls worked on "followers" but had a feeling it didn't. Nice game design there: brings up an interesting choice between how much to invest in a stealth build vs a tank build and the corresponding skills, and if and when to switch leaders. Combined with the forced marching order, this is a pretty elegantly simple way to add a bit of depth to the game.

Was hoping I could avoid thinking about it though. LOL. Guess it's one more thing to ponder.

[fallen]

Nov 24, 2014 12:59:43 GMT -5 John Robinson said:

Juggernaut: Some Boss monsters protect themselves with lower ranks, or archers take advantage while you are stuck fighting infantry.  I've just started to use Juggernaut, it's great
for cutting through the front lines to reach a higher priority target.  You can use another team member flank attack to setup the killing blow for Vraes in the direction he wants to travel in. 

Using Juggernaut is definitely all about setting up the killing blow successfully. Fast characters like Selen and Tamilin are perfect ... if they don't wreck it with a Critical!